EPISODE · Sep 11, 2024 · 52 MIN
Magda Ramada: From Blockchain to Revolutionising Insurance with the Right Tech
from Scouting for Growth · host Sabine VdL
On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Magda Ramada, Senior Director and InsurTech Innovation Leader at WTW's Insurance Consulting and Technology, where she spearheads the company's engagement with InsurTech startups and blockchain initiatives worldwide. With over two decades of experience, she has become a prominent voice in digital transformation, advanced analytics, and emerging risks within the insurance industry. Today, we'll be exploring Magdalena's journey in InsurTech, her views on the challenges and opportunities in the industry, and her vision for the future of insurance technology. KEY TAKEAWAYS I got into insurance and technology by chance. 10 years ago I took on a project for a large insurance company whose CEO wanted to look at lobbying risks and macro-economic risks, which I was an expert on. I felt self-conscious talking about risk to the CEO, so I studied like I’d never studied before, and it was a great experience. After that, everything I did was around insurance which led me to blockchain technology, and I realised this was going to change the way we can neutralise risks. I don’t think I’ll ever leave. Technology is an enabler. It doesn’t need to be AI-based or shiny or a startup, as long as it’s the right kind of solution to transform the industry. In insurance, the applications of technology and the needs and functionality are very different from personal lines to motor, home or pet insurance. It’s a world with a lot of complexity. What are the tools that enable me to use and analyse more data, leverage the data we already have, and how that data can travel from very different functions and allow a very different target operating model where the technical functions converge to work as one. There are a number of specialisms around that that go deep, like generative AI, natural language processing, OCR, where you become an expert in a niche and you don’t need to know insurance. The first thing you need to understand is how a technology is going to affect what you are doing. Then there’s the augmentation with everyone in the value chain (the claims handler, underwriter, customer, online customer, agent), these all need different interfaces and types of insight for the different personas to enable timely, better decision making. Not every technology will enable you to do that. BEST MOMENTS ‘Every time I had the choice of choosing insurance economics as an elective, I chose something else!’ ‘I like being on stage, it’s the closest I can get to teaching.’ ‘One of the things that makes us different from other species is our ability to imagine how things can change and be radically different. Technology can help us with that.’ ‘What is my insurer client going to need in 5 years? What is going to be critical? What is going to allow them to compete with others, to outperform and become front runners?’ ABOUT THE GUEST Magdalena Ramada Sarasola, PhD, is a trailblazer in the global InsurTech landscape. As Senior Director and InsurTech Innovation Leader at WTW's Insurance Consulting and Technology, she drives the company's engagement with InsurTech startups and blockchain initiatives worldwide. Dr Ramada Sarasola's expertise spans from microinsurance and financial inclusion to emerging markets and multinational enterprise strategies. ABOUT THE HOST Sabine VanderLinden is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur and the CEO of Alchemy Crew Ventures. She leads venture-client labs that help Fortune 500 companies adopt and scale cutting-edge technologies from global tech ventures. A builder of accelerators, investor, and co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, Sabine is known for asking the uncomfortable questions—about AI governance, risk, and trust. On Scouting for Growth, she decodes how real growth happens—where capital, collaboration, and courage meet. If this episode sparked your thinking, follow Sabine VanderLinden on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram for more insights. And if you’re interested in sponsoring the podcast, reach out to the team at [email protected]
What this episode covers
Insurance doesn’t change because technology exists. It changes when leaders understand how to apply it with intent. In this episode of Scouting for Growth, Sabine VanderLinden sits down with Magda Ramada, Senior Director and InsurTech Innovation Leader at WTW, to unpack what real innovation in insurance actually looks like—beyond buzzwords, hype cycles, and shiny tools. Magda’s journey into InsurTech didn’t start with a master plan. It started with discomfort. Tasked with advising the CEO of a major insurer on macro-economic and lobbying risks, she realised she needed to understand insurance deeply—and fast. What followed was total immersion. A decade later, insurance, technology, and emerging risk are not just her profession, but her intellectual home. One of the strongest messages in this conversation is refreshingly pragmatic: technology is an enabler, not the goal. It doesn’t have to be AI-powered, blockchain-based, or startup-branded to be transformative. What matters is whether it solves the right problem, in the right part of a highly complex value chain. Magda explains why insurance cannot be treated as a monolith. The needs of personal lines, motor, home, pet, commercial, or specialty insurance are fundamentally different—and so are their technology requirements. Innovation fails when tools are applied generically rather than designed around real operating complexity. The conversation dives deep into data as the connective tissue of future insurance models. The real question, Magda argues, isn’t “how much data do we have?” but: How do we analyse it better? How does it move across functions? How do we design operating models where underwriting, claims, analytics, and customer engagement converge rather than operate in silos? She also reframes how we should think about advanced technologies like generative AI, NLP, and OCR. You don’t need to be an insurance expert to build deep technical capability—but you do need to understand how those tools augment decision-making across different personas: underwriters, claims handlers, agents, digital customers, and executives. Not every technology can—or should—serve all of them. Another powerful theme is imagination. Magda reminds us that what sets humans apart is our ability to envision radically different futures. Technology, when applied thoughtfully, expands that capability. The real leadership question becomes: what will insurers need in five years to outperform—not just survive? Listeners will walk away with practical insight, including: How to evaluate technology based on impact, not hype Why persona-driven interfaces matter more than universal platforms How to think about data as a strategic asset, not an IT problem Why innovation requires both deep specialisation and cross-functional thinking 🎧 If you’re navigating digital transformation, working with InsurTechs, or designing the future operating model of insurance, this episode is essential listening. Because the future of insurance won’t be built by tools alone. It will be built by leaders who know how—and where—to use them.
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Magda Ramada: From Blockchain to Revolutionising Insurance with the Right Tech
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